AUTHOR'S NOTE
Here is a new chapter. Please note that real historical figures are mentioned in this one, which is somewhat unavoidable, given the historical events involved. This is a work of fiction, however, so if you want to know what really happened in events leading up to the Brexit Referendum, please look into it via reputable news sources.
Chapter 29
Sagacity, The Universal Collaborative for Temporal Insight, Collaborative Enforcement
"Are you sure about this?"
"If course I am. Do you think I would do it if I wasn't sure?"
After far too much oversight and cutting criticism from Romana, Hanar and Erdith were finally alone in the laboratory. They were trying to get as much done as they could during their brief respite from the Preceptor's overzealous supervision. She'd been called away to discuss the current situation with other members of the Security Council.
Hanar combed through the latest refresh on the time audit, hoping to see a change in the number of critical errors.
"Wait," Erdith said, intensely focused on the cognitive immersion. "Go back to Event A969."
"What do you see?"
Hanar waited tensely as his counterpart studied the event. After what felt like eternity, Erdith's shoulders relaxed, and she stepped away from the psychic interface.
"It looks like they're still alive. They've made some changes in London, February 2016.
Hanar refreshed the audit again and scrolled through the matrix of macro events to A969 and tapped to open it.
"So, they're working on Brexit, then. That's good news."
"I hope the Doctor isn't limiting his efforts to England, though. If that handful of micro-events in Europe doesn't get corrected all is for naught."
After the Doctor and Peter made their surly departure Hanar and Erdith had to fight to stay out of custody and continue working on the timeline. Romana considered their covert assistance to the Doctor insubordinate and would have locked them up if not for the magnitude of the problem.
The first thing the preceptor did after having Beckman detained was audit his time travel device to confirm his role. Unfortunately, her audit revealed another 20 or so interventions he'd performed between when he forcefully retrieved the device from the Doctor back in September 2014 to when Romana had him locked in the highest security detention cell available.
Happily, the refreshed audit confirmed that the Doctor was aware of the additional activity and was taking steps to mitigate it. Hanar only hoped the legendary time lord lived long enough to complete the corrections. Based on his condition when he left Sagacity, Hanar was surprised he hadn't already perished.
The fact that Sagacity was on the alternative timeline meant that they couldn't determine the true timeline from the corrupt one, but Hanar and Erdith were experienced auditors and neither just wanted to sit around and wait to see what happened. Together, they devised a work-around to isolate the algorithms that were attached to the alternate timeline. Then, they had to go through them one at a time, comparing the two versions of events and manually designating them as either true events or alternate events. It was a long and tedious process, and they did not know when Romana would return, or how she would react to their efforts.
All of the additional interventions had to do with two macro events, the Brexit Referendum of 2016 and the defunding of UNIT in 2018. The first few trips had no event alterations attached to them. It seemed that Beckman used them to look in on people who were close to the Doctor in one way or another.
While Hanar and Erdith agreed they had no time to look into those trips, Hanar made note of them. When Romana returned (and provided she didn't have them locked up for continued insubordination), he would ask to have Ghianna scrutinize them.
Ghianna was the last time lady to join the cohort before the Fall of Arcadia and before Gallifrey was sequestered in a pocket universe. Far more junior than Erdith and Hanar, she could be a fresh set of eyes on things and might notice something they were missing that would help them understand why Beckman visited Brigadier Alistair Lethenbridge Stewart and Clara Oswald's grandmother.
From the journal of Kate Stewart, 12 January 2026, Royal London Hospital, Earth, London, England
It's bitterly cold outside and our generators can't keep it warm enough. We've exhausted our petrol supply and are now down to only the units the Doctor provided. Osgood, one of the most optimistic people I know, burst into tears when Dr. Harrison told us that we lost another four patients in the night. There are only 11 left, and only one with a slim chance at recovery.
On a lighter note, the Torchwood team managed to repair the solar arrays and now have enough power for lights, heat, and refrigeration. Jax bragged that they've even got a working toilet, at least as long as the water supply lasts.
With the power on, Jax is hard at work on the old Torchwood communications system. She sounded exhausted when we spoke. I hope it was just distortion on the radio.
I haven't mentioned it here, but for several days I've been having increasingly vivid dreams about UNIT. In the dreams, it's years before the war. Last night, I dreamt there was a massive cyberman incursion led by none other than the Master, who had taken female form. Osgood was in it, as well and the Doctor and Clara. My father even put in an appearance. When I awoke, I could feel his presence, as if he'd given me a big hug from beyond.
So glad you're not here to suffer through this hell, Dad.
Anyway, these dreams are even more troublesome than my zombie dreams, which seem to be taking a back seat, at the moment. If I have another, I will mention it to Osgood. Maybe the change is significant.
Earth, London, England, Opposition Headquarters, 20 February 2016
"Where are you, Peter? Answer me now or I'm coming after you," the Doctor hissed acidicly into the small mic attached to his earpiece.
It was late, it was dark, and he was out of patience. Besides, he couldn't bring himself to pretend to mop the floor in this hallway any longer. He needed a rest.
Silence from the boy.
The Doctor made his way slowly down the hall, swabbing with his mop, until he reached the bench by the water fountain. Finally reaching it, he suppressed a groan as he lowered himself to its surface.
"Peter?"
"Yes, yes, I'm here! Just shut it, okay? Someone's here and I'm following them," the boy whispered.
"Where are you?"
"Ssh!"
They were in the Opposition Headquarters in the wee hours of the morning, waiting for Beckman to make the intervention into one of the events that led to a Remain Brexit vote.
Given how spectacularly badly most of the Doctor's run-ins with the mutant human had gone so far, they opted for a contactless approach to correcting this node on the timeline. The idea of the Doctor confronting Beckman physically in his current condition was laughable.
So the Doctor waited, resting the back of his head against the wall. The darkness increased his giddiness, and he only hoped he wasn't going to keel over in this hallway with its very clean floor. If he did, perhaps Beckman would trip over him on his way to the exit and take a bad spill.
More time passed. The Doctor drowsed.
"Okay, he's gone. Pretty sure it was Beckman. He slid the document under the door. Door's locked, so I can't get to it. Any ideas?"
The Doctor straightened up and cleared his throat. "Where are you? I can take care of the lock."
But Peter was two floors up and the Doctor didn't think he could make it to the elevator, which was at the other end of his very clean hallway.
Peter joined him far sooner than the Doctor felt possible. The boy was literally vibrating with energy. Ah, to be a twelve-year-old human, the Doctor thought. He showed him how to use the sonic screwdriver and had him practice using the lock/unlock feature. He rested back against the wall after Peter scampered off to retrieve the document.
"Doctor, wake up!"
"I'm awake. Of course I'm awake. Was just resting my eyes. Did you get it?"
Peter handed him a piece of paper and the sonic. The Doctor examined the document.
Sure enough, it was the article written by Boris Johnson for The Sunday Times weighing the pros and cons of Leave versus Remain. Scrawled across the bottom in an excellent imitation of David Cameron's handwriting was this message:
"I don't believe you really feel this way. Neither do I! But my hands are tied. Yours aren't! If you come out in favor of Leave it will not go unrewarded."
"That's a bit heavy-handed. I'm surprised it worked. Then again, he's playing into the Mayor's well-known hubris. Nice work, Peter. Let's go."
Earth, London, England, Clara's flat, 21 February 2016
"Did you read that article about Johnson?" Danny called from the sitting room.
He'd taken up the habit of reading her newspaper when he came over for dinner.
"Maybe. I dunno. Was it on the front page?"
Clara had only scanned the paper before switching over to grading papers. She popped the casserole into the oven, washed her hands and joined him.
"How long 'til dinner?"
"30 minutes, it's just got to warm up. Which article were you reading?"
"Boris Johnson came out in favor of Leaving the EU."
"Does that surprise you?"
"Well, yes, a little. He's got a good argument, though."
Clara smiled a little. "Could you be convinced?"
Danny handed her the paper and made room for her to sit on the arm of the chair.
"You know my thoughts about Brexit, Clara."
"And you know mine." She scanned the article again. "Doesn't this sway you? Even a little?"
"Perhaps a little, my Conservative girlfriend."
For some reason, that exchange gave Clara a lot of satisfaction.